Signal Cable Magic Power - Review/Demo

[dorokusai]

Please refer to this thread before posting:

http://clubpolk.polkaudio.com/forum/...threadid=14424

DEMO # 4 :

Signal Cable Magic Power - 5Ft.

The Cable---

10 AWG 3 conductor twisted design features:
99.9% pure stranded copper for maximum conductivity
Premium grade jacket provides excellent resistance to abrasion, water, oil and is highly flexible, even in low temperatures
UL listed and CSA certified
Temperature range: -40ø C to +90ø C
Voltage rating: 300 volts
Max. Amps @ 120V: 30

The Connectors---

Marinco hospital grade AC plug meets or exceeds hospital grade (green dot) UL tests
Marinco IEC (320IEC15)is one of the best on the market
Both connectors have a 125V 15Amp rating

www.signalcable.com

[I-SIG]

Count me in. I'd love to compare it to these inexpensive 14AWG Volex cords I just got, which I think are probably well worth $5! :D

Wes

[warviper]

I got my self one and they are pretty stiff. Didnt improve my yammy much but im sure it would help if I had a more power hungry amp.

[shack]

I have just spent the last few days with the Signal Cable Magic Power Cord. Even though the SCMPC is primarily for amps and so forth (according to Frank's website - he has a different cord for CDPs and other digital sources) I decided to try it on my Cambridge Audio D500SE CDP (besides my NAD amp doesn't have a removable power cord). I did a three way comparison with the SCMPC vs the steveinaz's bargain Volex (thanks to Tour2ma for donating it to the Cable Swap) vs the stock cord. My methodology was to use about one minute of three music tracks that are well recorded and that I am very familiar with. I compared all three cords at once, then stock vs Volex, stock vs SCMPC and Volex vs SCMPC.

The music I used was:

Sarah Mclachlan - "Fallen" from Afterglow
Dire Straits - "Money For Nothing" from Brothers in Arms
Eagles - "New York Minute" from Hell Freezes Over

My gear was as follows (in addition to the D500SE):

Cambridge Audio C500 Pre Amp

Nad C270 Power Amp

Polk RT400 Speakers

Panamax Max 4300 power conditioner

AudioQuest Sidewinder interconnects and AudioQuest Speaker cables.

Build Quality:

The Volex is just a larger version of the stock cord - very plain and non-descript. A commercial grade HD run-of-the mill power cord. Somewhat stiff.

The Magic Power (as you can tell in the pics) looks like something that would hook a city's power grid to the generators. Quite heavy. The thing seems to be as thick as my wrist. First visual impression is "overkill". It LOOKS very impressive.

Testing:

For the first couple of days I switched the cords myself concentrating on a single passage of music. In the end I had my daughter switch the cords in a "blind" test, again concentrating on one passage of music at a time.

Conclusion:

I quite frankly was suprised. The Volex was better than the stock cord... but only marginially better. IMO the low price of the cord makes it a worthy upgrade...even though I wasn't blown away by the difference. This IS what I expected to find in the Power cord demo (I was a skeptic). What I didn't expect was the difference the Magic Power Cord made. The only word I can come up with to desribe the difference is DEPTH. All across the spectrum, the sound was richer with a full quality that just wasn't there with the other cords. Guitar strings seemed to resonate deeper. The voices sounded more natural. Bass was not necessarily more pronounced...just more obvious. When going back to the stock or Volex cords there was a thin or tinny quality to the sound vs the Magic Power. I went back and compared several times just to make sure that the difference was as pronounced as it seemed to be. IT WAS!

The question is now....(1) Do I simply buy a Magic Power cord?...(2) do I check out the Magic Power DIGITAL HIGH CURRENT cord that Signal Cable recommends for CDPS?...or (3) do I look for other power cords to compare? A limiting factor is that I feel given the level of my gear, the price of Signal Cables are probably the range I need to spend. I may look for something similarly priced or I may just go ahead and order the Signal Cable Magic Power cord. It was that good!

I'm intersted to see how Tour and Amulford and others feel about this demo.

BTW Amulford...the cords will be on their way to you in a couple of days. I'll PM you when I send them.

[Pauly]

Would one of those improve anything on my PB1????

[polkatese]

Shack, glad to see that you notice the difference of SCMP for the better. I am extremely happy with SC, I have several SCMP and also use their digital SCMP. I concur with your findings, solely comparing it to stock. For the price, I am very satisfied!

Spastic,
I replaced the stock cord on my REL Storm with SCMP sub, the difference is significant. I assume it will do the same on your PB, although not confirmed. Give it a try and let us know...

[pjdami]

Shack,

Very nice and well written review. Glad to see it made a difference for you. I was skeptical at first too about power cords until I tried messing around with them.

Paul

[shack]

Originally posted by polkatese
I have several SCMP and also use their digital SCMP.

What do you use the digital SCMP with? Do you use the reg SCMP with amps and the digital with sources like Frank recommends? Can you tell a difference between them? I ask because I am probably going to purchase one and I really liked the results with the regular SCMP. I'm wonder if the digital would really be an improvement over the reg with a CDP.

[polkatese]

Shack,
I use the digital SCMP on a modded Pio 563 Universal player as Frank recommended. Honestly, I haven't done a true and true shootout between the two. I did compare the digital with a stock, and can honestly say that it expands soundstage and imaging. Instrument separation and vocals details are much cleaner. Let us know if you decided to try it out.

[amulford]

YOU FRIGGIN GUYS ARE KILLING ME, DAT'S WHAT I TINK!!!!

Let me start by saying this: I DID NOT think that a power cord was going to do anything for my rig. I could see where IC's would make a difference. It would make sense given the relatively small signal output of a source. But an AC power cable? NO WAY!

Well, let me be the first to admit, I WAS WRONG. And I apologize for the insensitivity and closemindedness to all of you who tried to make me see the light.

Now, on to the review...

I tried this as the primary cable to my Sunfire Ultimate Receiver. This is a rather good piece of equipment, IMHO, so I wasn't expecting much. I figured they ( Sunfire) would use good stuff, God knows I paid for it. The first thing I noticed is the Sunfire is not grounded at the IEC. It has a seperate chasis ground, which leads me to another little project...

The speakers were my 5.1 HT speakers: RT2000p mains, CS350LS center, RT f/x rears. These all have the Tri Lam tweeters, which are considered rather bright, and pretty detailed.

I tried the Volex first (14 AWG, 3C). It is basically the same thing as my stock cable(14 AWG, 2C), only with three conductors instead of two. Build quality is good, stout and kinda stiff. When I used it, I honestly could not hear a difference. I think it would probably make a difference if your upgrading from 18 or 16 AWG stock cord, but it didn't do anything for me.

Now I get to Franks cord. Jeez, this thing is a piece of horsec@ck!!! Very impressive, and very nice looking. Looks like a dressed up version of something I'd use to plug up a 100 HP motor. Really stiff, though.

If you want to think wire management, you'd have to make some concessions with this cable. That's the plus of the appearance. It could be left exposed and look tasteful. The weight is kind of on the heavy side though, so some support may be needed. I found it easy to become dislodged, but easily worked around.

As far as performance goes, KILLER. If I had to sum it up in one word, the word would be: MORE

I got more of everything. More depth, more clarity, more bass response, more soundstage seperation, more detail....

Now granted, this was not a night and day type of difference. This was, for me, on top of what I already was used to. But the added performance was quite noticeable, even to my 12 year old stepson.

Definitely a worthy addition to the set up. If you think the addition of a quality power cable won't make a difference, so did I. My time with this cable has changed my school of thought, however, and I feel pretty confident it would do the same for others.

The down side is now I have this new found knowledge......Now everything needs to have the upgrade ability (IEC's)

BASTADS :D

[steveinaz]

(HANDS TIGHTLY COVERING EARS)....LALALALALALALALALA, i cannot hear you, i cannot hear you, LALALALALALALALAL...

:D

what I don't know, won't cost me any money..

[polkatese]

ah, a new convert! congrats! now there is no turning back, it goes downhill from here (that is, your checking account balance) ;)

[dorokusai]

Thanks for posting your review, very happy that you experienced a positive effect. Don't tell the wife where I live after you spend the money :D

[smglbrth]

Before I get started let's just say I, also, did not believe a power cord could make that much of a difference and yes, I was wrong!

CD's for review -
Soundtrack to Gettysburg (powerful, in your face music)
Max Reger (Telarc)
Michael W. Smith, Freedom (the only HDCD I own right now)

Equipment for review -
What you see below without use of the DVD player.

All listening was done at 20 db and cords were switched after each album.

Volex -
Better than my 16 gauge stock, made somewhere in the far east,
cable. Slightly less flexible. Definitely brighter with a tad more
bass depth, not much though. I didn't note anything that really
struck me as being "far superior" to the stock cord. Think of it as
being 2 db up. Sorry, but I wouldn't run out to buy one.

Signal Cable -
First thoughts on the cable. Wow, what a neat looking BIG
cable! Next thought when I tried to switch cables out, man, what
a pain in the butt to work with! In order to use this cable I had
to drill a new hole into the back of our cabinet with a hole cutter.
You know, the bits that are used to usually drill holes in doors for
locks. It's behind the amp so the wife shouldn't take it too hard
but.... (This is the real cherry wood, 700 smacker cabinet, the only
one she would agree with, also has some guys signature on it,
you get the idea) If any one of you have fairly tight fitting cables
you understand. Loose cables don't bother me but it doesn't get
me any points in the WAF.

On to the review. Not as bright as the Volex with much more bass
depth. Overall a more neutral sounding cable with more punch
where it counts. Definitely a better representative of the actual
recording. The music seemed more "live" or "lively", depending
on how one would look at it. Detail in the instruments were
better and more separated, not so muffled together as before.
Gee, does the word MORE keep coming up? Yes, I agree with
Anthony, MORE of everything but I'll venture to add another word
for our testing grounds, CLARITY. Cleaner sound with more of
everything! Seemed to me that the amp just kept pace better.
Think of this cord as being 4 db up from the Volex.

Out of all three discs the one with the most noticeable difference
was with the HDCD. The only reason I mention it is because it
was VERY, VERY noteworthy.

BTW - About that hole in the cabinet. My wife knew I wanted to
purchase one of these anyway so this gives me more incentive.

[amulford]

Nice Huh? It came as a surprise to me, too.

Nice review. BTW, don't worry bout the hole, progress always has a pricel...;)

[jdhdiggs]

Hmmm, if I had something that could use that cord, I'd ask you to add me to the list. I just can't believe that with all the crap interference and multple mile runs that the last four feet of the connection from the power company to your component would make one spot of difference. Now you guys have me quesiontiong that rationale... OUT EVIL DEMONS! OUT I SAY!!! ;)

[VR3]

Well...

After my much listening...

I got my thoughts down...

You can view the review here...

PolkThug - I will be shipping them out to you soon, Sean may be shipping me another power cable to shoot out with...so...will let you know

http://www.eandr.biz/Vr3_Home_Theatr...ts_PCDemo.html

[F1nut]

Trey,

The kind of socket on your pre amp is called a C7. I know a few other cable companies that offer that kind of termination and I'm sure Signal does as well.

[VR3]

Awesome! Thanks, That is very re-assuring...

[smglbrth]

Nice review Trey! It's kind of fun reading about all of us "doubters" concerning power cables. Problem is, now I have buy more stuff!!

[VR3]

Heck, I doubted it...big time

One of those things u gotta hear to believe...

Definitely opened things up

[faster100]

wheres the signal power cable going next? can't wait to try it out... :)

[VR3]

It goes to Polk Thug

Sign up in the Cable Swap Program at the top of this forum

[faster100]

i already did, I think im next after polk thug

[LittleCar_w/12s]

I would not think it to make such a big difference, but given your reviews it might be plausible. I would think that the greatest difference would be in the connectors at the end, as this tends to be where the resistances are. Perhaps I should build a medical-grade terminated cable out of lamp cord to see if that's what it is. Anyone with a good soldering iron could save a great deal of money :0

Now you guys got me thinking... not like I don't have much better things to do, but it would be quite interesting to build a rig to test these things. Perhaps an interconnect between the power cable and the device with attachments for my 'scope. That way we'd be able to look at the actual changes in the system.... Ahh well I don't have any IEC equipped equipment to do it with... nor enough money lol.
-Jerry

edit afterthought... Anyone know what the strand-count is in the SignalCable? That could make the difference too, especially for voltage recovery at high frequencies, and we all know that the higher frequencies greatly define the soundstage, which is what we are seeing in these reviews....

[faster100]

Well i demo'd the SCPC against my stock computer style IEC cords, and with the included volex cord..

First off i have to admit after all these years of playing with gear and listening, I still can't tell a huge difference with cables and interconnects. I am just now starting to hear differences in different model amps and pre-amps// with that said, here is what i came up with.

The gear i tried these on was as follows:

Pre = parasound Ph/p 850
cdp = Toshiba 3960
and for fun a old fisher tuner i installed a iec on

I mostly played cd's i was familiar with or that i thought had a good mix of bass, and fast dynamics.


First off the build qaulity of the Signal cable was top notch, nice tight connections into the gear and wall socket.

My cord for the parasound pre is actually not stock but a hospital type cord with the clear wall socket, so i didnt think it would make much difference..

The bad thing was i just received a new adcom amp and everything sounded different from what i was used to for the past year, so Unfortunatly I could hear no difference from my stock cords versus the SC power cord.. anything i might have heard was chocked up to the new amp, or was it the power cords.. I was skeptical about the amount of money spent on some of these power cords to make such a difference that some claim. well i'm not saying they arent hearing it, But i just simply cannot hear a difference.. and my gear is not ultra high end nor is it junk, so if i have to move to gear costing several times more to hear subtle differences in a power cord, I think im pretty happy with most of the gear i have now..... and wont be upgrading for that reason alone.

Now i really wish i could have tried it on my amp, This is where heard or not i think it would be a worthwhile upgrade. My pre-amp has a pretty thick cord with nice connections so i wouldnt think a big audible difference would be heard... as for my CDP its cheap as hell lets face it and although it sounds good and they are known for good sound at a cheap cost... its no 1000.00 and up product.. and wouldnt yield what i would consider a worthy difference with a SCPC upgrade... and the tuner,. well its a tuner and its old, enough said...


Conclusion:

I love the looks and feel of the SCPC, build quility is top notch,

The volex is run of the mill and not much bigger then a standard PC power cord, (i would not go from stock to this) its just not that much better,

Would i buy a signal cable power cord? YES
what would i use it on? Strictly amps and my SVS because this is where i feel something this thick/big would make the most impact,

Its a great looking product and i will buy one eventually... and would love to try the interconnects soon as well.

I thank Mark for starting the program and being able to demo something i otherwise usually couldnt afford just to "test drive" Its a great program and it helps people to try before they buy

Thanks alot again

[danger boy]

Faster,

gimme, gimme, gimme! :D

I'm with you man. my turn is coming up soon to demo the SC power cord.. i've only got two things I can use it on. an SVS and a tube DAC. we'll see.

What kind of connector is that called anyways? the end that connects to the rear of the gear. it's like two or three blades type thingy.

[faster100]

Its an IEC connector danger, Their on there way.... enjoy.

[danger boy]

faster100 and everyone else,


the two power cables arrived on New Years eve.. i hope to have some time this weekend to try them out. thanks

[danger boy]

Well don't expect much out of this review. BUt I thought it was my manly duty to at least report my findings on the power cable.

First off.. freakin thick power cable. It's big, fat, and heavy. I thought it was going to unplug inself from the socket..just with the sheer weight of the thing.

I really only have two places I can use a cable of this quality. One is my tube DAC and the other is the SVS 20-39PCi.

I used it for the first week on the tube DAC. Ummmm. The DAC does bass so well already.. that I couldn't tell any difference. I think any cable that thick and heavy would be an upgrade to any componenet.

Then I switched an tried it on the SVS for a week too. This is where I noticed some increase in bass. My receiver doesn't have variable crossover settings. so i know that there was no way anything like that would or could interfere with my demo.

I only noticed a slight increase in bass output using the power cable. So very slight. It didn't appear to add any lower extension that I could tell.

Final thoughts. For the price.. it's a no brainer. I'd probably purchase one for the SVS. but not for the tube DAC.

I'm glad i had to chance to demo it with my gear.

thanks Doro. you're alright.. despite what others say about you behind your back. :p